


fais-le du bout de mes lèvres

by inpiniteu



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Attempt at Humor, Fluff without Plot, Hickeys, Idiot With a Crush Choi Mingi, M/M, Marking, Tattoo Artist Kwak Aron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:00:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24376177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inpiniteu/pseuds/inpiniteu
Summary: It seems that it won’t be that easy to convince egg head to tattoo him. That’s alright, Mingi thinks, because he’s always loved a good challenge and Kwak Aron, by the look of things, is proving to be just that.
Relationships: Aaron Kwak | Aron/Choi Minki | Ren
Comments: 13
Kudos: 36





	fais-le du bout de mes lèvres

**Author's Note:**

> The whole setting was inspired by I'm in Trouble's MV teaser (even though Mingi isn't a businessman at all here).
> 
> It's mostly pointless fluff but I hope you all enjoy it.

The first time Mingi steps inside to the tattoo parlor two streets over his apartment happens to be because of a bet.

Making bets over the most stupid things is how his roommate and he work, and it doesn’t help that Jonghyun has always been extra competitive and never one to turn down an occasion to just win over someone else. 

That means bets happen often, if not every single day. Mingi doesn’t mind much. Bets make life a bit more exciting and it’s all in good fun, well, for the most part.

The last one had been fun, as well, and he could have easily won it if he had used his head a bit more. It had been pretty foolish of him to pick a hip-hop song at the noraebang. Sure, he was a better singer than Jonghyun, no question asked, but Jonghyun has better rap skills and, at that particular moment, had had enough sense to pick a song that suited him.

Rap has never been Mingi’s forte, as much as he wants to believe it is, and his final score of 62 has shown him just that.

So, yes, his confidence in his rapping skills—or lack thereof—is exactly why Mingi finds himself in a tattoo parlor, with a cute platinum-haired tattoo artist shaking his head with flashing him a look that screams _i-know-what-you did-to-be-here_.

“I can’t pick a design for you,” Aron says and Mingi pouts. It’s not like he’s asking for much. Just a tattoo of something—anything, really, as long as it’s tiny—to respect his part of the deal and make Jonghyun shut up once and for all. 

While he doesn’t object to the idea of getting a tattoo at all, he’s never really thought about getting one before. He could start doing so now, and he probably should, but at the same time, he realizes he doesn’t want to.

His reasons are rather simple and would sound corny to most, but he doesn’t want any meaningful memory of his to be reduced to the consequences of a bet. He would rather get a stupid, meaningless tattoo than a meaningful one. 

“Please?” He tries again in the cutest voice he can muster. It usually works very, very well so he's confident. “Just a tiny symbol or anything. Even a dot or two would do.”

Aron just shakes his head, though, and Mingi sighs. Loudly. 

It seems that it won’t be that easy to convince egg head to tattoo him. That’s alright, Mingi thinks, because he’s always loved a good challenge and Kwak Aron, by the look of things, is proving to be just that. 

Better luck tomorrow, he guesses, leaving the parlor with a dejected face but dozens of ideas to make the cute artist caves in.

If there’s one thing Choi Mingi isn’t, it’s a quitter. Kwak Aron will soon discover that (and regret saying no).

  


***

  


Mingi’s second, third, fourth visit all end up the same way, with a firm refusal of Aron’s side and Mingi trying every tactic in the book to convince him of why he should change his mind.

That implies trying to bribe him with huge sums of money he doesn’t have, bringing coffee every single day without a fault—it took him a few tries to find out Americano is the safest bet, as _boring_ as it is—, and begging. 

Begging, with him kneeling on the floor and his hands clasped together in front of him.

He’s probably looking like a lunatic, but that has never stopped him before. Getting what you want more often than not requires sacrifice, after all, and this time is no exception.

“Please,” he says, and while he doesn’t care about what he's doing because the ends justify the means, he’s still relieved there’s no one in the shop to see him like this. “Reconsider your decision one last time. Just a tiny tattoo and I’ll be out of your hair and leave you alone.”

Aron simply shakes his head, not even bothering with a proper answer or a second glance.

“I will let you know it’s the first time I’m being rejected while on my knees,” Mingi says, only realizing the innuendo behind his words once they’re out of his mouth and taking them back would be embarrassing if not borderline humiliating.

Good thing he doesn’t want to do that, then, and Aron’s reaction serves to show him he might have made the right decision. 

Indeed, the tattoo artist starts chuckling, his eyes full of amusement, and Mingi’s lips twitch. It wasn’t what he had wanted to achieve by getting on his knees but he would take it. 

He will, because he swears the sight of Aron’s happy, smiling face is one he’s going to commit to memory and see in his dreams.

Aron extends his hand to help him get off the floor after he’s finished laughing, and Mingi takes it without any hesitation, fighting the urge to continue holding onto Aron’s hand once he’s back on his feet. 

He doesn’t immediately succeed, but if the tattoo artist notices his hand being held for a bit longer than necessary, he has the courtesy to not point it out. 

What he points out, though, is so obvious that Mingi can’t help but roll his eyes. “My answer is still no. I won’t tattoo you, Mingi-yah.”

“Wow, thank you for the unneeded clarification, Captain Obvious.” 

He's not exactly disappointed by the outcome or at Aron, can't be upset when he's nowhere near giving up, but he doesn't look forward to another evening of going home and having Jonghyun bother him about that tattoo "he's too chicken to get". That, for sure, is going to suck. 

It could be the tone he used, his words, or maybe the grimace he just made but Aron breaks into a loud laugh. “You’re cute, you know,” he says once he’s caught his breath. "Very cute."

Mingi grins at that, and shrugs like hearing compliments about himself is a daily occurrence. It isn’t, not really, but it would be a lie to say he’s never been told he was cute before. 

Nonetheless, hearing it from Kwak Aron is different. 

He doesn’t know how to properly describe them, the feelings growing inside him, so it’s good he doesn’t have to and that his feelings are his to keep. For now, at least.

“Cute enough to get a tattoo?” He tries. The opportunity was too good to miss and who knows, maybe it could work.

It doesn’t, and Aron gets him into a headlock instead, his knuckles rubbing on his head without much strength. If it had been anyone else, Mingi would’ve already pushed them away while screaming and cursing them out but it’s Aron.

It's _Aron_. It’s different. 

He still tries to push Aron away softly, though, and reaches up to fix his hair as soon as Aron lets go. 

“I don’t know why I continue coming here,” he grumbles under his breath. Aron stills next to him but Mingi is too busy smoothing a rebellious strand of hair off his face to notice it.

When he’s finally done, having deemed himself presentable enough, he looks at Aron, only to find the tattoo artist looking at him with a weird expression on his face. “I don’t know why you keep on coming here either,” he says, and Mingi freezes in place, nervous he might have hurt his feelings. 

He considers apologizing, the words at the tip of his mouth, but Aron beats him to it, adding with a smile on his face, “But let’s go get dinner. My treat.”

The apologies are replaced by a loud cheer, and he’s quick to put his jeans jacket back on while Aron makes sure everything is put in place and ready for the next day before closing up.

The silence isn’t weird or awkward but Mingi still feels like saying something. Like clearing the air, just in case. He clears his throat.

“You know,” he starts, fidgeting with his hands. “I know why I’m coming here.”

Aron’s muffled voice comes from the back of the shop. “Yeah?”

There’s something in Aron’s voice, something unmissable even from where Mingi is standing. Something light, almost teasing and wrapping around his heart in comfort. It tells him everything he needs to know— _everything is fine between us_ , and Mingi just feels the relief sipping through him at fast speed.

He hums in response but it’s too soft to properly be heard, so he adds in a louder voice. “Yeah.”

When Aron comes back to the front of the shop, he’s smiling wide. Mingi smiles back.

  


***

  


After that, for some reason, Mingi gives up on trying to convince Aron to tattoo him. He doesn’t stop coming to the parlor, though.

More than that, he’s there more evenings than not, always coming in twenty minutes or so before closing hours, just so he’s certain he won’t be a distraction or make clients uncomfortable with his presence.

Aron looks up at him as he enters, quickly waving at him before going back to whatever he’s sketching. Mingi has quickly learned that Aron shouldn’t be disturbed when he’s in the middle of drawing and so, he waits until the other is done.

Soon enough, Aron stretches, puts his pen behind his ear, and takes a seat on the stool adjacent Mingi’s. His hands are somewhat stained with gel pen ink, and Mingi had never noticed before, how callused Aron's hands were.

He's taking out of his thoughts by Aron's voice. “No coffee today?”

Mingi raises a brow. Kwak Aron is becoming greedy, it seems but that’s alright. Mingi has found out he likes to please Aron, and if bringing coffee is what it takes, he will make sure to fetch an americano from the nearest coffee shop before showing up next time. Not that he will let Aron know that. Being whipped isn't his style.

“Well, I have no reason to bribe you anymore,” is what he says instead, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. “No tattoo, no coffee.”

Aron snorts, taking on an offended expression. “And here I am, thinking you are the highlights of my day, always making sure I eat and providing me with caffeine daily.” He sighs loudly but his eyes are twinkling with amusement. “You’re turning out to be nothing but a scam, Choi Mingi.”

“Me, a scam? You’re the tattoo artist who refuses to ink me, hyung.” They’ve switched to _banmal_ a few weeks ago, and for more reasons than not, it should still feel weird to call Aron “hyung”, but Mingi finds out it isn’t the case. 

It isn’t the case at all, judging by how easy the transition had been. Defying what they are is tough, stuck in that limbo between being more than acquaintances but not really friends, but every day spent chatting and hanging out together after his classes end are steps that bring them closer. Mingi likes that. A lot.

“You didn’t know what you wanted, Mingi-yah. You still don’t know what you want.”

 _I want you_ , Mingi immediately thinks, and that thought is so loud in his head he wonders how Aron manages to not hear it. “I know what I want,” he says in a voice that sounds a bit shaky to his ears.

Aron looks surprised as well, both eyebrows raised slightly. “You do? You finally picked a design?”

Mingi resists both the urge to snort and coo at his hyung. Aron is cute at times. Cute, and also really dense. 

“No,” he answers, and the other is still sitting on his stool looking all confused, almost as if he’s waiting for Mingi to elaborate because it doesn't make any sense. 

Mingi doesn’t, though, and instead opts for waiting. He waits for something that might never come, and as the silence stretches on for way too long in his opinion, he considers dismissing this whole discussion and forget it ever happened.

It's still time to just confess he was talking about where he wanted to go for dinner later on and he's about to do so, but something in the way Aron suddenly looks at him makes him stop in his tracks.

“You’re not talking about the tattoo, are you?” Aron says so softly Mingi has to strain his ears to hear him.

Mingi doesn’t even hesitate after that. He’s done pretending, done swimming in the murky waters of everything they could be but aren’t. “I’m not,” he confirms with a straight voice. “I’m talking about you.”

  


***

  


Mingi is lying down on his back, chest exposed in the open and fingers gripping the edge of the table as he waits for the needle to break the skin.

It took a lot of persuasions, and maybe him going on his knees a little more successfully than the first time at the shop, but Aron has finally agreed to tattoo him.

So, he waits for that first impact of the needle against his skin. The needle never touches him, but Aron’s lips are a different story. 

His eyes open in shock, and he watches, transfixed, as Aron marks his skin, inch after inch. Slowly, so slowly.

His collarbone is first, assaulted by harsh lips and a soothing tongue that leave marks after marks on Mingi’s otherwise unblemished skin. 

His shoulder is next and Mingi is rendered speechless by then, the sound of his harsh breath the only one heard in the parlor. 

Aron’s mouth now reaches his chest, settling itself just above his left nipple and sucking with even more ardor than before. It takes everything in him to not shudder in pleasure and his control is weakening more and more every second.

It’s good, feels _so_ good, and he gets lost in all the sensations he’s feeling, all the sensations Aron is making him feel. 

It’s only when Aron stops that Mingi opens eyes he doesn’t remember having closed, and finds Aron looking intently at him. “What was that?” He struggles to say, his voice coming out as a whisper. He looks down at himself, at the dozens of love bites scattered all over his chest. The haze he seemed caught under is slowly disappearing. 

From the corner of his eye, he can see how white his knuckles are, still clenching the edge of the table, but his hold loosens up just on time for Aron to be able to link their fingers together.

“This,” Aron starts, bringing their joined hands to his mouth and kissing the back of Mingi’s hand before continuing, “was me tattooing you.”

Mingi blinks. When his boyfriend had told him he was finally willing to tattoo him, Mingi hadn’t imagined this. Even now, he can't wrap his mind around what has just transpired between the two of them. 

His confusion must be showing on his face, and he wouldn’t be surprised if it did because Aron has told him more than once he is an open book. 

Perhaps, it’s true, and perhaps, Kwak Aron is the dose of mystery he needed in his life.

“They’re like tattoos, you know,” Aron says as Mingi stays silent. “Marks on your skin that have a signification.”

At that, Mingi looks down at his chest again and smiles. He’s aware of what they mean but can’t resist asking. He wants to hear it, wants the words to come directly from Aron. 

At first, Aron simply guides their joined hands towards the reddish marks, careful to touch them as lightly as possible. Fresh hickeys are always a bit more sensitive than Mingi would like them to be so he’s grateful for how careful Aron is with his touch.

He holds his breath, waits for his boyfriend to say something. Aron soon does, his words a whisper, “They mean _I love you, Mingi-yah_. I love you, more than you can imagine.”

If goosebumps rise on Mingi’s skin, it’s only because he finds himself unable to control his emotions and the flutter of his heart. “I love you, too,” he says softly, meeting Aron’s eyes. 

They spend a moment just like that—staring at each other in silence, talking with their eyes, with their smiles, with their feelings they see reflected in the other’s eyes. 

The solemn mood between them is broken by Mingi clearing his throat, and his next words are light, almost teasing in the way they’re being told, in a sing-song voice that only makes Aron’s smile widen. “They’re going to disappear, though,” he says, pouting a bit. “What are you planning to do once it happens?”

Aron doesn’t miss a beat before answering. “Well, I guess I’ll have to just put fresher marks on you whenever it happens.”

Mingi exhales loudly. “Oh.”

“Would you be opposed to that, Mingi-yah?” Aron asks. “Would you push me away if I was to mark your skin again and again and _again_?” The questions are more rhetorical than anything else at this point and they both know it, Aron even sounding way too smug in Mingi’s opinion. 

Calling him out on his bullshit is the last thing he wants to do right now, though. It also helps that smugness also makes Aron even hotter if it's possible.

So, he doesn’t do that and shakes his head, his free hand clutching at Aron’s tee shirt, fingers bunched around the fabric. He stares at them for a fleeting moment before pulling on the cotton material, gently yet with a strength he didn’t know he had in him at the moment, and Mingi is smiling against Aron’s lips the moment the mouths meet.

“You better make sure you own up to it, Kwak Aron.”

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from a French song which title is actually "Tatoue-Moi" (Tattoo Me) and means "Do it from the tips of my lips" :)
> 
> Didn't want to say it earlier in case it was too spoiler-ish.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
